His trip to Slovenia, North Macedonia and Albania follows a commitment by members of the NATO military alliance to support democracies facing Russian interference and disinformation.

In Slovenia, Ms Joly will take part in a panel discussion on multilateralism at the Bled Strategic Forum, an annual conference on security and development in South Eastern Europe.

She is planning a meeting with government officials from the Moldovan and Belarusian oppositions, both countries opposed to anti-democratic forces backed by Moscow.

In North Macedonia, Minister Joly is expected to meet Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski and his top ministers to discuss trade and defense issues.

According to a press release, she will meet Prime Minister Edi Rama and members of his cabinet in Albania on rule of law and justice issues.

Ms Joly’s office says the trip is part of a plan the minister announced in May that called on Global Affairs Canada to work more closely with the United Nations. Albania holds a temporary seat on the UN Security Council, which will be transferred to Slovenia next year.

North Macedonia, meanwhile, heads the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the continent’s largest security organization and one of the last forums for Russia and the West to discuss defense and conflict.

The purpose of the trip is to “listen to the experiences of countries in the region and explore concrete ways to support those partners,” the minister’s office wrote in a statement, calling the three countries “important partners for Canada” on the continent.

“We are united by our shared values, including defending democracy and striving for a rules-based world order,” Ms. Joly said.

His trip comes at a time when North Macedonia is embarking on politically difficult reforms as part of its year-long quest to join the European Union.

In 2019, the country gave in to demands from Greece to include the word “north” in its name. Recently, Bulgaria demanded that the country recognize ethnic Bulgarians in an official list of groups living in North Macedonia, a move opposed by conservative parties.

Ms Joly said Canada needs to work more closely with countries under Russian influence, especially smaller countries. The Liberals have announced the establishment of new embassies in countries such as Lithuania and Armenia, despite criticism for the closure of the Canadian International Arctic Center in Norway.